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'Ooh shiney....'' 'I'm sure that will make me a better player....' 'WANT ONE WANT ONE WANT ONE.......'

Boom! Sofa shot just in.

Now you see I like that a lot. So much energy and real talent too. Trying too hard?? Maybe / maybe not but if you're on Letterman then you could do a lot worse than milk it for all its worth and be memorable.

Just got this. Huge Kings X fan...

Let's share our weird and wonderful ideas for making life that little bit easier in the world of bass. Even if they appear long winded and silly and actually use more effort than they save. I'll start: One of those over the door clothes hanger thingies available from all B&M, Poundland type outlets makes a great cable tidy.

A bit of a pain to take a door to every gig just to use it though!

Because it's easier than sitting practising for hours on end.

If we're on about Chickens ...

Bought this from eBay & it turned up on Tuesday. I was after a rehearsal / crap venue bass to protect my Maruszczyk’s from some wear & tear. This fitted the bill nicely as I like old Jap instruments, & the active electronics & 19mm string spacing matched nicely to the M’s. Pleased to report that it lives up to the SGC reputation - great quality, easy to play & sounds excellent.

The same percentage who know what it means.

Will post some fancier pics later but here´s proof it´s now actually strung up!

I have ended up buying kit after I reviewed it. I AM completely skint!

Like the Circle of 5ths, there is also a Circle of GAS. The progression goes I'm happy with what I have. Something different catches the attention. Reasons to acquire said article begin chattering in the brain. Justifications for acquire said article begin to form. Said article is elevated from 'Desirable' to 'Must Have' status Previously satisfactory equipment becomes unsatisfactory. Rabid obsession with said article developes. New article is acquired. I'm happy with what I have. Rinse and repeat.

Honestly? Before coming on here I was blissfully unaware of the variety of basses available & was quite happy with my cheap squier jazz bass & old cheap bass stack. No one in any band ever commented on said bass/amp, only on my playing. "that's great, or that's not great"...end of. I then entered the black hole of bass forums which reached into my very insecure being, and I began to say to myself. "other bass players will look upon your lowly bass/amp, point and laugh!" Oh how I imagined being mocked by the multitude of low enders. So, I started a ridiculous 10 year journey of buying and selling equipment in order to feel better about myself, so that in my imagination, I could look another bassist in the eye and without hesitation spout forth the list of high end gear that I owned (but couldn't really afford). However, no one in any of the bands I played commented on said bass/amp, only on my playing. Hold in I thought, this has made no difference to anything other than my insecure ego & bank balance. I now own one cheap bass, and don't even own an amp. Still get asked to play/gig/record with some great players. So why the GAS? For me coz I forget what matters, & have to admit I can suffer from chronic comparing syndrome. I'm probably the only one, but I'm glad that's off my chest. My name's oldslapper & I'm a plonker.😁

I think we just get caught up in it - if you're gigging and getting some spare cash coming in, its just too tempting to treat yourself to some more nice kit. There's no obvious cut off point once you get beyond the basic necessities, and into the realms of fantasy kit. The bubble burst with me about a year ago, mainly cos i cut right back on gigs for family reasons, and then realised how much kit i actually had. The apparently amazing, life-changing aspirational gear I'd bought didn't make me play any better, or feel any better. It just tied up thousands of pounds, so I flogged the stuff i didn't really need. I still look on Basschat most days and see stuff I like - but then a reality check reveals i don't actually need it. It's nice feeling that you don't have to buy anything. Sort of the opposite of GAS. I'll probably get lynched on here for saying it tho. It's lovely to have shiny new exciting treats, but constantly longing for different things and working out how to get them makes me really stressed out I've realised.

Great idea...there's something similar in the Pirate Studios we use, but it's hung on the wall. My man cave / practice / music room is usually a sh*t tip, so I'll be borrowing this one!

"What if...?"

I'm disappointed. I was expecting a topic about new sources for band transport hire... (... and that young lad will hurt his voice if he carries on doing that for long ...)

I actually used excess string cut-offs to pick the lock, seemed approriate!

There's definitely a Linux version. No need to run it under Wine. I use it all the time. Linux is now quite a reasonable proposition for musicy stuff.

I can't see clearly but it might be that she's pointing to her euphonium to alert the sound crew that she's about to go solo on it.

If you find you can't do a weird routing thing you want interally then you can always use a patch cable in the FX loops and use separate send and return blocks to put stuff anywhere. You can jump the paths at will then.

I disagree. It would have been a waste of time doing it and not sharing your experience with the others here... perhaps. I mean; in addition to learning something new and finding that it works, you have inspired others, @stewblack for one, to have a go where otherwise they'd have been overawed by the prospect. That lickle cab might find a new home in a home cinema system. All you need is a mono amplifier module of suitable spec to make it an active sub. At those levels you might never get to fart inducing cone velocities and you'd have a really solid bottom end as a result. Not a waste of time. Well done!

You could hover the bridge pickup ABOVE the strings. Some small offcuts of wood and a load of Blu-tak should do the trick. This will give you an idea of how loud it will appear, and the compliance of the blu-tak will afford some adjustment.

You've inspired me! I have a lovely lightweight combo which just,and I mean just, about coped at band practice. It has an output for an extension speaker which could make the difference I need. However the entire point of the small combo is ease of getting the thing in and out of the car so I want something small. Now I also have a very nice 2 X 10 in a scruffy and above all heavy cab with damaged grill that I don't mind taking apart. I reckon I could make a little 1 x 10 like yours employing one of the speakers from this unused overweight cab. So thank you for showing me it can be done. To be frank I'm a little intimidated by the high tech talk around here, although I love reading the threads.

There, Marc, fixed it for you

There is an Ibanez ATK 400 for sale on the forum here (not mine) But great basses for the money. I rate them.

£1400 ish. Swamp ash body, carbon neck rods, luminlays and Aguilar 60s J pups.

It's nice to be conversing with a person of taste and exceptional insight. Furthermore with a person who appreciates the great ideas which have shaped our times. Like the electric light bulb, penicillin and my over the door cable tidy.

I like them, and want to try as many as possible so I try to buy low in order to not lose too much money. I have recently picked up some real bargains that have sat unused and unloved for years, cleaned them, set them up with new strings and then sold on for a very modest profit. The hope is that I can gradually trade up to some more exotic models. They are all different, and I find that I play differently as a consequence.

Careful people, this could be someone’s partner posting a sting after sensitive information

I know Hipshot do an A style bridge with 16.5mm, so you could mod any 4 string really, as long as pups do not cause issues. And I believe some short scale basses (Hagstrom e.g.) have 17mm.

currently $39 which works out about £28, i need all my spare pennies at the moment to pay for a shiny new interface though!

I'm not a five string player, and I usually find a lot of fivers to be quite ugly - but that is really quite attractive! There is something about its shape that is very appealing and just works...

They also will have completely different tonal characteristics. It would be nice if they posted response charts, but at least they're one of the perhaps 5% of manufacturers who provide displacement. I guess response charts will have to wait until the next century.

John East, check out his site. www.east-uk.com/ G.

I've got no academic training in music whatsoever I'm afraid so I've no useful advice here other than I know the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester has a very good reputation. Personally, I'd like to leave the UK and live in Slovenia, one of my favourite countries. I currently have Lake Bled wallpaper on my computer

Sorry to hear this, I too have been there and it isn't a lot of fun. Good advice above. It's an individual thing but what works for me if I'm ever feeling depressed is to maybe look at something connected with music, that isn't necessarily relevant to your playing. For example, you could watch a music documentary. There are several good ones on netflix, but I can particularly recommend 'Hired Gun', which is a thing all about session musicians. I always feel like picking a bass up after watching something like that. Though not a long term solution, a bit of retail therapy can also help if done sensibly. Think about something small that you want that is bass related, research it online and order it. Maybe a new strap or something. It'll get the mind busy, and hopefully start enthusing you, even if subconsciously. Also try and make sure you're keeping active and doing a bit of walking if possible. It's amazing how many times I've been in an endless funk, really quite bad, and something like a walk/bike ride/swim gets the bad stuff out and something I'm keen on to just pop into my mind out of nowhere. Off the point slightly, but for me personally, camping, or just walking in woods is the best therapy I can think of. Hope you can find something that helps, but don't worry. You will feel like playing naturally when the time is right anyway. As you will know from past experience, it DOES pass even if it might seem like it won't at the time. Best of luck, keep us posted.

Aw. I thought this was a follow up to KFC's chicken shortage last month!

I'm having a Pelican Day - wherever I look there's a huge bill in front of me.

Part 1 of my LBGS 2018 blog is here: https://wp.me/p2ZbyY-C1

God is for me? Really??

There is no right or wrong answer to that question - you just have to try them and see. I don't like 38mm myself, but others do.

I would be looking at second hand Ibanez’s, you can pick up some real bargains. The build quality will be better than some of the cheaper offerings from the major players.

Having recently picked up a Squier Affinity Precision from our very own Grangur, I`ve been pretty amazed at the quality and playability for a so-called budget instrument. Am changing the electrics to a Ki0gon loom, as the pots in there are 500s and too fizzy for me, but other than that, def worth checking out the Affinity range, especially if not intended to be the main instrument.

I just gave my Rumble 500 and the extension cab a fairly loud try out with my (new) Wal and happy to say it's a good combo. Can't beat it with a P but the Wal works as well